Narrator: This is Science Today. Psychologist Lillian Cartwright of the University of California, San Francisco has been studying a group of women doctors for thirty years, since they entered medical school. Today, one-third of those high-achieving women are in poor health, and Cartwright found they had several traits in common. One is organizational ability -- women who were less organized with their time as young women are in poorer health now. Another factor is what Cartwright calls hostility.

Cartwright: The women who scored higher on hostility at age 24 were in poorer health. And none of these women are hostile in terms of mean nasty people.

Narrator: By hostility, Cartwright means more of a general world view.

Cartwright: So the women with higher hostility scores were more likely to see the world as cold and uninviting and as a consequence probably took less advantage of social support groups, perhaps were not as compliant with their own doctors advice in terms of their health.

Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Steve Tokar.